The ''Pastoral Concert'' or ''Le Concert Champêtre'' is an

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest ...

of c. 1509 attributed to the Italian

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

master Titian. It was previously attributed to his fellow Venetian and contemporary Giorgione. It is now in the Musée du Louvre in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. This painting was created between approximately 1509 and 1510; the exact date of its creation is unknown. This period also represents a turbulent period of history in Venice, specifically the League of Cambrai's War in 1509. Art historian Jonathan Unglaub suggests that this painting was painted in response to the war, providing an "idyllic refuge from the ravages of history." The term "Concert Champêtre" was first used in 1754 by Nicolas Bernard Lépicié, to describe this painting. But when it entered the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...

in 1792 it was given the title of a

Fête champêtre A fête champêtre was a form of entertainment in the 18th century, taking the form of a garden party. This form of entertainment was particularly practised by the French court, where in the Gardens of Versailles and elsewhere areas of the p ...

, a genre arguably based on this painting. It is believed to visually show the Renaissance admiration of classical poetry, an essential value of humanism. This painting is also considered the origin of a particular genre of Pastoral paintings, because of its connection to pastoral poetry, as seen by the young men gathering in the Italian countryside's lush, picturesque greenery. The pastoral concert or

Fête Champêtre A fête champêtre was a form of entertainment in the 18th century, taking the form of a garden party. This form of entertainment was particularly practised by the French court, where in the Gardens of Versailles and elsewhere areas of the p ...

genre is described as a gathering in a picturesque landscape. Usually, young men are gathered together in a creative pursuit, seated on the landscape's grass. The paintings themselves are almost always allegories or depictions of mythological characters. This is the 16th-century genre; in the French-led 18th-century type, women are very prominent. This painting is an example of the Venetian school of Italian Renaissance art. Paintings from

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

are characterized as having rich color schemes that create a "warm glow" and emphasize naturalism above all else. Venetian paintings also have a specialty in mythological and allegorical themes. The unique use of color is known as ''colorito'', and it was most often found in Venetian painting. The patronage of this painting remains unknown today. Isabella d'Este is a possible candidate for patron due to a so-called ''bagno'' scene she commissioned for her brother Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara. Still, the word ''bagno'' is now considered to describe a painting by Palma Vecchio, another Venetian painter active during the same period.

Description

The painting portrays three young people on a lawn, playing music together. Next to them, a standing woman is pouring water from a marble basin. The women are naked apart from their drapery, fallen to their legs; the two men are dressed in contemporary 16th century Venetian costume. In a vast, pastoral background, there is a shepherd and a landscape. As is usual with early Venetian paintings, there are no drawings that are clearly associated with this painting, but some figure drawings may have been used as sources for individual figures. These probably come from the circle of Giorgione, as does the painter.

Interpretation

It has been suggested that the painting may be a commentary on the

paragone Paragone ( it, paragone, meaning ''comparison''), was a debate during the Italian Renaissance in which painting and sculpture (and to a degree, architecture) were each championed as forms of art superior and distinct to each other. While other a ...

, the scholarly debate during the Renaissance that tried to determine either painting or sculpture as the superior art form. Venice was one of the artistic epicenters of the paragone between the concepts disegno and '' colorito'', with the latter being a hallmark of Venetian Art. It is proposed that this painting could be an artistic argument, showing how painting and the techniques of colorito are superior to disegno, which was common to Florentine art. Some of the most well known ''colorito'' artists from the Venetian Renaissance include Giorgione, Titian,

Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 26 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his fath ...

, and Jacopo Bellini.

Location

The painting is understood to be a pastoral landscape in the Italian countryside. It is not explicitly stated or described by historical documents exactly where this painting is set. Still, as it comes from Venice, there is a high possibility in the Venetian countryside. Venetian painting's major specialty is landscape paintings, specifically idyllic landscapes such as Locus amoenus that posit subjects into the Venetian Countryside. This painting shows a meadow with a landscape that has broad slopes down to a water source. Intermixed with this idyllic landscape with buildings that match the typical town/villa style of the 16th century Venice city-state.

Christiane Joost-Gaugier Christiane L. Joost-Gaugier (born 1934) is a French-born American art history scholar whose research has included work on the art of the Italian Renaissance and on the influence of Pythagoras on art and philosophy into the Middle Ages and Renai ...

suggests that the painting's landscape was a fictional setting inspired by

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

Eclogues The ''Eclogues'' (; ), also called the ''Bucolics'', is the first of the three major works of the Latin poet Virgil. Background Taking as his generic model the Greek bucolic poetry of Theocritus, Virgil created a Roman version partly by offer ...

, specifically numbers three and eight. The painting's landscape details suggest this particular epilogue because the Shepard's appearance with bagpipes alludes to a possible scene depicting a singing contest of

Theocritus Theocritus (; grc-gre, Θεόκριτος, ''Theokritos''; born c. 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry. Life Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from h ...

from

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

's ''Ode'' or Vergil from Virgil's ''Eclogues'' (3,7).

Classical references

The subject was perhaps an allegory of poetry and music; the two women could be an imaginary apparition representing ideal beauty, stemming from the two men's fantasy and inspiration. The woman with the glass vase would be the muse of tragic poetry, while the other would be pastoral poetry. Of the two playing men, the one with the lute would represent the exalted lyric poetry, the other being an ordinary lyricist, according to Aristotle's distinction in his ''Poetics''. Another interpretation suggests that the painting evokes the natural world's four elements (water, fire, earth, and air) and their harmonic relationship. Pastoral Concert (detail)

Another theory is that this painting's subject is an allegorical interpretation of

's poem about Daphnis, a shepherd thought to be the pastoral poetry founder. Philipp Fehl references this poem in his theory on the identity of the women in the paintings. Theocritus describes Arcadia as the land that the Greek god Pan originates. Arcadia was imagined as a "paradise" by Jacopo Sannazaro in his 15th-century pastoral poem ''Arcadia,'' popular around Venice and the surrounding city-states. It is suggested that the nymphs create Arcadia around them, making Arcadia a spiritual state of existence that one establishes. Philipp Fehl also proposes that this painting symbolizes

Ludovico Ariosto Ludovico Ariosto (; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic ''Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describes the ...

's ''

Orlando Furioso ''Orlando furioso'' (; ''The Frenzy of Orlando'', more loosely ''Raging Roland'') is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was ...

'', an extremely popular epic poem in the early 16th century. One of Ariosto's most famous patrons was Ippolito d'Este and his older sister, Isabella d'Este, the possible patron of this painting. Julia Marianne Koos's theory suggests that the painting is an allegory for the discourse of love. In the Italian Renaissance, it was believed that nature was a "mirror of the lover's soul and an idyllic place of refuge". This specific painting's allegory on love's discourse was believed to be originating from

Pietro Bembo Pietro Bembo, ( la, Petrus Bembus; 20 May 1470 – 18 January 1547) was an Italian scholar, poet, and literary theorist who also was a member of the Knights Hospitaller, and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. As an intellectual of the ...

's poetic musing on desire, such as his poem ''The Asolani''. The concept of "desire" depicted in art was a heated debate in the 16th century, as seen in writings such as

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on ...

's Trattato della pittura. Art Historian Ross Kilpatrick suggests that two ancient literature texts,

Epistles An epistle (; el, ἐπιστολή, ''epistolē,'' "letter") is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as par ...

and Propertius's Elegy, were the significant pieces of inspiration behind this painting.

Identity of figures

A leading theory on the women's identities in the painting was put forth by Phillipp Fehl in 1957, postulating that the women are

Nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...

s, minor ancient Greek goddesses, and not human. He stipulates that the nymphs have been lured out of the woods toward the music being created by the men in the pastoral. Fehl also maintains that these nymph women are invisible to the men in the painting but are visible to us, the viewer. Also according to Fehl, the closest poetic work that matches this painting is

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict a ...

(obviously, entirely unknown to Titian, as it was written much later) . He uses this passage from ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' to support his theory of the nymphs being invisible to human eyes:

"''But who comes here? I am invisible,'' ''And I will overhear their conference."''

The use of nymphs from Ancient Greek mythology is common for Italian Renaissance paintings due to the deep appreciation for the antiquity of Greek and Rome, a common aspect of

Renaissance Humanism Renaissance humanism was a revival in the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. During the period, the term ''humanist'' ( it, umanista) referred to teache ...

. Holberton agrees they are nymphs from the woods enticed by the beauty of the music, but thinks they are visible to the men. Elhanian Motzkin identifies the nude female figure on the left as Inspiration and the right to be

Euterpe Euterpe (; el, Εὐτέρπη, lit=rejoicing well' or 'delight , from grc, εὖ, eû, well + el, τέρπειν, térpein, to please) was one of the Muses in Greek mythology, presiding over music. In late Classical times, she was named muse ...

, the Greek muse of music. In addition to identifying the female figures, Motzkin also put forth the identity of the men. Building off of the original theories of Phillipp Fehl, Motzkin identifies the men as

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

and

, with Apollo teaching Paris how to play the lute. He also posits that the formerly unidentified herdsman in the far right background is Paris' adoptive father. The latter raised him after being abandoned by his parents Priam and Hecuba. There are multiple uncertain issues in this painting, the most prominent being the female figure's inclusion on the left pouring water out of a clear jug into a well. Ross Kilpatrick theorized that while the identity of the woman on the left is unknown, the artist's inspiration may derive from Horace's ''Epistles'', which places Horace in the Bandusian Spring's basin, a mystical body of water that also shows up in Propertius's work. The concept of a "mystical spring" presents itself in ''Epistles'', referencing the Greek Muse Calliope. The town of the Sabine Villa included in Horace's ''Epistles 2.2'' has a freshwater spring from which Calliope gathers water. In Horace's poem, the town itself has a fountain with the inscription: "Bandusian Spring, more gleaming than glass." Kirkpatrick suggests that this could be the inspiration for the inclusion of the figure pouring water.

Attribution

The attribution of this painting has long been the subject of debate. The artist was formerly believed to have been Giorgione. Later painting analysis suggested Titian, initially a follower of Giorgione, was its creator. There is no documentation demonstrating attribution. Christiane Joost Gaugier suggested Giorgione began the painting, but he died in 1511 before finishing the painting. He believes that Titian, Giorgione's protégé, completed the painting in honor of his departed mentor. Gaugier states that the lutenist in red on the left symbolizes a youthful Giorgione who is in the midst of teaching the rustic man the lute, a man understood to be a young Titian. Gaugier understands this painting as an allegory for the mentor – protégé relationship the two artists shared. The painting has also been attributed to Palma the Elder, Sebastiano del Piombo, Domenico Mancini, and

. These theories, however, are not as common as the attribution to Titian or Giorgione due to a lack of historical evidence and restoration efforts. The theory of attribution to Domenico Mancini has gained ground as contextual evidence and historical documents have been analyzed.

Giorgione

''Pastoral Concert'' was attributed to Giorgione until the 20th century, mostly because Giorgione himself was included in Giorgio Vasari's '' Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects''. While not explicitly named in the book, this passage is inferred: "a musician who played the lute for musicians and continually enjoyed the pleasures of love." This passage refers to the artist because the description matched so closely to the subject of this painting. A work known to have been painted by Giorgione, '' The Tempest'', is referenced in ''Pastoral Concert'' through the use of colored hosiery worn by the male subjects, a symbol of Compagnie della Calza, an elite patrician order of young men.

Titian

The painting was initially attributed to Giorgione, but modern critics assign as more likely a work of the younger Titian. The figures' robustness is considered more typical of his style. Titian's painting ''The Adrians'' is used by Phillip Fehl to show the use of symbolic detail by Titian to credit this painting to Titian. Alfonso, I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, commissioned ''The Andrians'', Isabella d'Este brother. Titian's connection to the House of Este family's patronage is seen as evidence of Titian being the creator of this painting. The painting itself fits closer to Titian's artistic style because of the artist's use of symbolic minute detail and Rubenesque bodies in the genre of Venetian painting.

Domenico Mancini

A theory postulated by Charles Hope, and endorsed by Holberton, suggests that the author of the painting is Domenico Mancini, a contemporary painter and follower of Giorgione and Titian. Mancini's Lendinara Cathedral altarpiece is stylistically similar to ''Pastoral Concert'', as well as his ''Madonna with Saints Francis and Roch''. The latter painting is dated 1511, very close to the timeline of completion for this painting. As Hope observed, ''Pastoral Concert'' itself has not been cleaned. It is impossible to tell if the painting could be Mancini's without proper restoration. As an artist, Mancini was known to borrow elements and mimic the style of certain Italian Masters. His painting ''Madonna with Saints Francis and Roch'' takes significant cues from Giovanni Bellini's '' San Zaccaria Altarpiece''.

Provenance

The painting does not seem to have been well-known until the 18th century. The Gonzaga family, the lords of

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

, an Italian city-state, owned the work. The painting was later sold to

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after ...

in about 1627, possibly acquired through Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel, a close friend and courtier in Charles I's court. When the English royal collections were dispersed following the revolution of 1649, the painting was sold at auction by the

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execu ...

to the German banker and art collector,

Eberhard Jabach Everhard or Eberhard Jabach (10 July 1618 – 9 March 1695) was a French businessman, art collector and director of the French East India Company. He was born in Cologne in the Holy Roman Empire but later naturalised as a French subject. Life His ...

. He, in turn, sold it to

Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the country ...

on behalf of

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

in 1671. The painting was later owned in 1736 to

Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montespan Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise of Montespan (; Madame de Montespan; 5 October 1640 – 27 May 1707) was the most celebrated '' maîtresse-en-titre'' of King Louis XIV, by whom she had seven children.Lisa Hilton, ''A ...

's son, Duc d' Antin and his collection at the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

. After 1792, the painting was transferred from the French royal art collection to the

Museum during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

. It remains in their collection to this day. Copies of this painting were widely available, mostly in Holland, and reproductions frequently were found in the Dutch Art Market in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Cultural influence

The Dutch artist

Jan de Bisschop Jan de Bisschop, also known as Johannes Episcopius (1628–1671), was a lawyer, who became a Dutch Golden Age painter and engraver. Biography According to the RKD he learned to draw from Bartholomeus Breenbergh, and he influenced in his turn J ...

copied ''Pastoral Concert'' for an engraving as part of his traditional practice copying the Italian Renaissance masters' art.

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

was also said to have made a copy of this painting after witnessing it in the Louvre in 1824. The copy is now lost, but the Venetian work is rumored to have been one of the inspirations for his painting, ''

Women of Algiers ''Women of Algiers in their Apartment'' () is the title of two oil on canvas paintings by the French Romantic painter Eugène Delacroix. Delacroix's first version of ''Women of Algiers'' was painted in Paris in 1834 and is located in the L ...

''. Some other artists' rumored to have copied ''Pastoral Concert'' include Edgar Degas and

Henri Fantin-Latour Henri Fantin-Latour (14 January 1836 – 25 August 1904) was a French painter and lithographer best known for his flower paintings and group portraits of Parisian artists and writers. Biography He was born Ignace Henri Jean Théodore Fantin-La ...

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bor ...

conceived his '' Le déjeuner sur l'herbe'' after viewing the earlier work in the Louvre. Dante Gabriel Rossetti wrote a poem titled ''A Venetian Pastoral, by Giorgione, in the Louvre'', which was explicitly written about this painting. His poetry was created to move the reader triangularly through the canvas, hopping from subject to subject. This specific sonnet was included in his ''Poems'' in 1870.

References

Citations

Sources

* Austern, Linda Phyllis (2002). ''Music, Sensation, and Sensuality''. Taylor & Francis Group. pp. 30–31. . * Holberton, Paul (1993). "The Pastorale or Fête champêtre in the Early Sixteenth Century". National Gallery of Art: 244–262
JSTOR
* Kessel, Elsje van (2017). ''The Lives of Paintings: Presence, Agency, and Likeness in Venetian Art of the Sixteenth Century''. De Gruyter, Inc. pp.75–76 . * Nichols, Tom (2013). ''Titian: And the End of the Venetian Renaissance.'' Reaktion Books, Limited. pp.30–31. . * Phillips, Sir Claude (2008). ''Titian''. Parkstone International. pp.49–52. . * Wilde, Johannes (1974). ''Venetian art from Bellini to Titian''. Oxford:Clarendon Press. pp. 116–119 . * François, Aline. "The Pastoral Concert". ''The Louvre''. Retrieved 4 October 2020. * Camara., Dr. Esperanca. "Titian, Pastoral Concert". ''Khan Academy''. * "Titian's Pastoral Concert – ItalianRenaissance.org". ''www.italianrenaissance.org''. Retrieved 2020-10-04. {{Authority control 1509 paintings Musical instruments in art Nude art Paintings by Giorgione Allegorical paintings by Titian Paintings in the Louvre by Italian artists